At the March meeting our guild’s very own Tom Nehil provided an informative discussion on

wood identification to 38 members and guests. Tom opened up his presentation with a brief

introduction and details of his engineering background. In addition to his job as a profes-

sional engineer, Tom teaches wood identification at Tillers International in Scotts Mi and

Tillers board member. He walked us through the systematic process of identification. That

process can begin with the bark, leaves and blossoms of the tree. When those items are not

available it becomes a detective process of identifying key features. Those features include

color, odor, density and florescence among other things. Narrowing down to a family may be

the first step, such as identifying an oak piece of lumber. But distinguishing red oak from

white oak from black oak quickly becomes more scientific and brings with it scientific instru-

mentation and magnification. Under magnification the edge grain provides more clues to

the wood identity. Rays, specs and voids in the grain can be a telling indicator. However it

may be necessary to move to higher magnifications to look at the grain an individual tube

level. All this information is compiled on one’s mental and various book libraries of identifi-

cation. Tom came prepared with kits of different wood samples, 10x magnifier loops so we

could better see how the grain reveals unique features to different types of wood.

Tom Nehil—Wood Identification

Tom Nehil Biography

Tom Nehil is a structural engineer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he specializes in evalua-

tion, preservation and adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Tom is a member of the Timber

Frame Engineering Council that is part of the Timber Framers Guild, and chairs the Timber

Grading Training Committee for the Council. He is also active with the Michigan Barn

Preservation Network and the Michigan Historic Preservation Network among other profes-

sional organizations. He is a regular instructor at Tillers International in Kalamazoo where

he teaches wood identification, timber frame design, and traditional stone masonry.

Tom will be teaching an day long class on wood identification at Tillers from 9:00am—

5:00pm on Saturday April 1st. Follow the link below for detailed information:

http://tillersinternational.org/event/identifying-wood-april-1/

http://www.woodguild.org March 2017

Next meeting:

March 14, 2017 @ 7:00pm

Al Collison’s Shop at 10292 Douglas Ave.

Take Douglas North to Cooper, it is 2 ½ miles North of Cooper, on the right (East) side. Or you can take 131 to D ave East to Douglas and turn left, (North). Al will have an orange cone and flashing light out to get your attention.

Agenda: Bob Behnke—Senior Technical Service Manager from Franklin International, makers of Titebond adhesives . His presentation will cover the 5 steps for successful wood glu-ing. From dry assembly to wait-ing for the glue to dry. Wood glues can affect the wood as it is being assembled and being prepared in advance will elimi-nate costly joint failures and frustrating disassem-bly. Discussion will focus on the steps needed to use wood glues with ease, what to watch out for when the glue hits the wood and why failures occur . We will also cover some frequently asked questions and why there are so many different wood glues. Bring your gluing ques-tions as this is a discussion not just a presentation.

Inside this issue:

Show and Tell 2

American Chestnut 3

Upcoming Events 3

Guild Sponsors 4

Thom Kelley brought in a box—

dispenser for a 350 count box

of disposable shop towels.

George Wade brought in

mallets he crafted from

layers of plywood.

Don Batts was at Figures of

wood a day ahead of a portable

Lucas Sawmill visit. He went

back the next day to see this

beast in action. It was there to

slab a 7.5’ wide log and is capa-

ble of slabbing 10’ diameter

logs. The blade is a 10’ chain-

saw

February's Show and Tell

Tom McCormick Shuffle Boards

Tom presented photos of shuffle boards that the

builds from reclaimed bowling alley slabs. Some

former Upjohn employees reminisced how the com-

pany had a dozen or much such tables. Tom can

make you a deal on one of your own.

Page 2 March 2017

The American chestnut

tree (Castanea dentata) is a

large, monoecious deciduous tr

ee of the beech family native to

eastern North America. Before

the species was devastated by

the chestnut blight, a fungal

disease, it was one of the most

important forest trees through-

out its range, and it was consid-

ered the finest chestnut tree in

the world.

The American chestnut was an

essential component of the

eastern U.S. forest ecosystem.

These “Mighty Giants” stood up

to 100 feet tall and numbered

in the billions. As a late flower-

ing, reliable, and extremely

productive tree, the American

chestnut was unaffected by

seasonal frosts, making it the

single most important food

source for a wide variety of

wildlife.

Rural communities depended

upon the tree’s annual nut har-

vest as a cash crop to feed

livestock. The chestnut lumber

industry was a major sector of

rural economies. Chestnut

wood is straight-grained and

easily worked, lightweight and

highly rot-resistant, making it

ideal for fence posts, railroad

ties, barn beams and home

construction, as well as for

fine furniture and musical

instruments.

At the beginning of the 20th

century, the fungal pathogen

responsible for chestnut blight

(Cryphonectria parasitica) was

accidentally imported into the

U.S. from Asia. It was first

This section of the newsletter

will be reserved for items for

sale, wanted to buy, lumber

for sale, etc. At time of publi-

cation there were no items to

add.

Contact Scott at

mcdavids3@charter.net at

least a week prior to upcoming

meeting for publication in the

newsletter.

John Biermacher noted

lesser know fact about

Hollywood actor Bill Pax-

ton that unfortunately

passed away last week.

Bill’s grandfather Frank

Paxton started Paxton

Lumber in 1914.

Paxton Lumber has loca-

tions in Chicago, Illinois;

Cincinnati, Ohio; Denver,

The American Chestnut

Wood guild Classified

Upcoming Events

Tillers International Classes:

March 3-5 F-Su Windsor Tall Stool/Table $300 March 16-17 ThF Blacksmithing I $250 1 March 8-19 SSu Blacksmithing II $250 March 24-25 FS Blacksmithing: Tools for the Garden $275 April 1 S Identifying Wood $100 April 7-8 FS Blacksmithing I $250 April 21-22 FS Coopering: Buckets $290 April 22 S Annual Plow Day Open House free April 22-23 SSu Tools for Timber Framers $300 April 23 Su Spoon Carving $125 Local Woodturners meet second Saturday of each month at Portage Northern High School woodshop at 9:30am—http://www.westmichturners.org/ Kzoo Makers meet M-Tu-Th-Sa from 4:00pm—8:00pm —www.kzoomakers.org

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

wound pathogen, the fungus

enters the tree through an inju-

ry in the bark. It spreads to the

underlying vascular cambium

and wood, killing these tissues

as it advances. The flow of nu-

trients is eventually choked off

to and from sections of the tree

above the infection, killing the

tree above ground. By 1950,

the fungus had eliminated the

American chestnut as a mature

forest tree. Article from The

American Chestnut Foundation.

During Tom Nehil’s presentation, he mentioned that about a year ago, Bob Soos had given him a chuck of wood to identify. Bob thought it was American Chestnut. Tom was very skeptical but agreed to investigate the mystery wood. All prevailing factors of age of tree, physical location, blight timeline made it very unlikely to be Chestnut. Maybe European, or Japanese Chestnut, but not American. Tom has a book detailing the history of the Chestnut blight and how devastating it was. Below is a brief description of that tree’s history. And yes, Bob did indeed have American Chestnut lumber.

7572 S. 10th St

Kalamazoo MI 49009

The Woodworks Guild of South West Michigan is a

group of hobbyist and professional woodworkers of di-

verse woodworking interests that meet monthly to share

knowledge and craftsmanship skills that serve the many

facets of woodworking.

Meetings are held second Tuesday of each month from

September through May. Meeting time is 7:00pm at a

local shop or location of interest.

Annual member ship dues are $25/year.

Find us on the web at www.woodguild.org

Woodworkers Guild of S.W. Michigan

Guild Sponsors:

Guild Officers President - Bill Crown 375-1594

Vice President - Al Collison 685-8428

Treasurer - Mike Cline 685-0535

Newsletter Ed. - Scott McDavid 544-2177

Secretary - Douglas Lynes 324-1449

Photographer – Neal Ferguson 624-6837

Primal Woods Hartford, MI Portable and Alaskan Sawmill Ser-

vices

Email: john@primalwoods.com

Web: http://www.primalwoods.com

www.facebook.com\primalwoods

269-222-0101 John @ X700

Douglas & Son Inc.

Everyone’s Favorite

Paint & Wallpaper

Store.

231 West Cedar St.

Kalamazoo MI 49007

(269) 344- 2860

www.douglas&son.com

Andy Jean’s

Sawmill

7616 W. Main

Oshtemo, MI

Cell 269-808-6230

Hardwood and Softwood

Professional Milling and

Kiln Drying

WOODCRAFT 4265 28th St. SE

Grand Rapids, MI 616-957-9663

woodcraftmich550@sbcglobal.net

Directions New Hwy 6 E. off 131 to M-37,

N. to 28th St., Right on 28th, One

mile from M-37 North

Just East of Paris Ave.

Next to Design Quest on your left.

J&J

Paint & Glass

Steve Klok Scott Miracle

Everything in Glass

509 East Vine St.

Kalamazoo MI 49001

Ph 269-344-2834

Fax 269-344-0378

Serving SW MI since 1954

S E L E C T MILLWORK COMPANY

BILL ADAMS PRESIDENT

960 INDUSTRIAL

PARKWAY PLAINWELL MI

49080 PH 269-685 2646

THE HERITAGE

COMPANY Architectural Salvage and

Supply Buy and Sell old wood-

work, doors windows and all oth-

er old house parts.

Open Wed – Sat 11-5

269-385-1004

150N. Edwards

Kalamazoo, MI 49007

Ad space available.